Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-12-17
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, December 17, 1998
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREECE CLOSELY WATCHES DEVELOPMENTS IN PERSIAN GULF
[02] GREECE'S STUDENTS WON'T BLINK, WANT EDUCATION REFORM LAW TO
SINK
[03] PARLIAMENT TO EMBARK ON BUDGET DEBATE TONIGHT
[04] EDUCATION MINISTER IS ADAMANT: REFORMS WILL BE ENFORCED
[05] GREEK FM POSTPONES VISIT TO PAKISTAN DUE TO HEAVY FOG AT
ISLAMABAD
[06] GREEK PREMIER'S STATEMENTS OVER THE VIENNA SUMMIT
[07] GREECE'S COMMUNIST AND COALITION PARTIES CONDEMN ATTACK ON
IRAQ
[08] STATE DEPUTY URGES MPs TO CONDEMN OPERATION DESERT FOX
[09] GREECE'S "THETA INTERKAT S.A." TO BUILD CUTTING EDGE
HOSPITALS IN ALBANIA
[10] ÌÏRGAN STANLEY: GREEK BONDS ARE MOST PROFITABLE IN EUROPE
[11] BODY OF GIRL WHOSE MOTHER WENT UNDERCOVER TO BE EXHUMED
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] U.S. WILL CONTINUE RAIDS OVER IRAQ
[13] US, BRITAIN STRIKE IRAQ, HUSSEIN URGES DEFIANCE
[14] OIL PRICES DROP AFTER THE ATTACK ON IRAQ
[15] RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAQ HOLD UN'S BUTLER RESPONSIBLE FOR AIR
STRIKES
[16] UN SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES REGRET OVER USE OF FORCE ON
IRAQ
[17] RUSSIA, FRANCE, INDIA, AFGHANISTAN INDIGNANT OVER RAID ON
IRAQ
[18] US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES POSTPONES IMPEACHMENT VOTE
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] GREECE CLOSELY WATCHES DEVELOPMENTS IN PERSIAN GULF
The Greek government is closely watching the developments in
the Persian Gulf and has expressed its hope that the operation
Desert Fox will be brief, according to an announcement released
this afternoon by the Greek Foreign Ministry.
Prime Minister Kostas Simitis was briefed on the developments
by alternate Foreign Minster George Papandreou and undersecretary
of Foreign Affairs Yiannos Kranidiotis. The country's opposition
parties have condemned the raids.
[02] GREECE'S STUDENTS WON'T BLINK, WANT EDUCATION REFORM LAW TO
SINK
High school students throughout Greece have locked their
horns with the education ministry and, apparently, neither is
about to budge on the issue of academic reforms which are touted
by the government but loathed by the youngsters.
In Thessaloniki, marching students blocked the city's major
arteries this morning, disrupting traffic to the center of the
city. Meanwhile, Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis is concerned
that the students are misinformed on the proposed changes, but has
vowed to proceed with the reform as planned.
[03] PARLIAMENT TO EMBARK ON BUDGET DEBATE TONIGHT
The Parliament's plenary session is to embark on a debate
over the upcoming year's budget tonight, where the ruling PASOK
party will have the opportunity to outline its achievements in the
economy sector.
Prime Minster Kostas Simitis is expected to reiterated that
Greece will achieve its EMU-accession target, while the opposition
parties will most certainly exert a heavy dose of criticism on the
government's policies.
[04] EDUCATION MINISTER IS ADAMANT: REFORMS WILL BE ENFORCED
Apparently undaunted by the students' massive protests to
his academic reforms, Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis has
reiterated his determination to apply the changes.
Addressing an event held by the Pedagogical Institute in
Athens, Mr. Arsenis said that unionist teachers are responsible
for the misleading information given to the students concerning
the reforms.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kostas Simitis asked Mr. Arsenis to
embark on an information campaign in order to counter the
falsehoods circulating about the reforms and to allay the
students' fears.
[05] GREEK FM POSTPONES VISIT TO PAKISTAN DUE TO HEAVY FOG AT
ISLAMABAD
Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, who completed
his visit to Kuwait yesterday, postponed his subsequent visit to
Pakistan due to the heavy fog at Islamabad airport, which
prevented his Falcon plane from landing.
Mr. Pangalos will return to Athens today.
[06] GREEK PREMIER'S STATEMENTS OVER THE VIENNA SUMMIT
During his parliamentary address last night, Greece's Prime
Minister stated that
the country need not be concerned over the Agenda 2000
negotiations, although he advised carefulness.
Responding to a relevant question posed by a deputy, Mr.
Simitis summarized the discussions held during the recent EU
Vienna Summit concerning the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and
a potential freeze on EU funds.
He stated that "extreme positions were set out by the
Austrian presidency, but they will not be accepted. Our hope is
that is that we will achieve satisfactory settlements. We must not
be concerned, but we must be very careful in negotiations."
[07] GREECE'S COMMUNIST AND COALITION PARTIES CONDEMN ATTACK ON
IRAQ
The Communist Party of Greece and the Coalition of Left and
Progress have strongly condemned the air strike launched on Iraq
during the early morning hours by the United States and Britain.
The Communist Party issued a statement wherein it dubs the
strike as "a gangster-like attack), while the Coalition Party
stated that the raid defames the United Nations.
[08] STATE DEPUTY URGES MPs TO CONDEMN OPERATION DESERT FOX
The ruling PASOK party's state deputy Paraskevas
Paraskevopoulos has undertaken the initiative to collect
signatures from other members of the parliament in a statement to
be forwarded to the UN secretary general, condemning the strike
over Baghdad launched by the United States and Britain early this
morning.
Speaking to the Macedonian Press Agency, Mr.
Paraskevopoulos said that the statement will be forwarded to UN
chief Kofi Annan and it will request the UN's intervention in
order to halt the attack on Iraq.
Furthermore, Mr. Paraskevopoulos, along with other
deputies, will form a protest before the UN's offices in Athens
this afternoon.
Mr. Paraskevopoulos had visited Baghdad last April where,
accompanied by PASOK deputy George Katsibardis and Coalition
deputy Spyros Danelis, he transported pharmaceutical supplies to
the Iraqi people who are tormented by the embargo. Upon returning
to Greece, he amassed the signatures of 70 deputies in a statement
advocating the lift of the embargo.
Regarding last night's raid, Mr. Paraskevopoulos said "I
condemn the US and British raid over Iraq. It is unacceptable
that, under the guise of any whatsoever demands, they violate
international law and, more so, attempt to rinse their ‘stains'
with innocent blood."
[09] GREECE'S "THETA INTERKAT S.A." TO BUILD CUTTING EDGE
HOSPITALS IN ALBANIA
Greece's "Theta Interkat S.A." has won the bid to construct
two hospitals in Albania, an international tender declared by
World Bank, which will also finance the project with five million
dollars.
"Theta" has undertaken the planning and construction of two
state-of-the-art hospitals, with approximately one thousand beds,
in the cities of Skoder and Vlore.
The project will get underway in the beginning of 1999 and
its completion is targeted for the end of the year.
[10] ÌÏRGAN STANLEY: GREEK BONDS ARE MOST PROFITABLE IN EUROPE
Those who invest in Greek bonds are to enjoy the highest
returns in 1999 throughout Europe, according to Morgan Stanley,
which adds that the Greek bonds are to signficaintly strengthen
the domestic stock market as well.
In its report, Morgan Stanley finds that the Greek economy's
upward course is a result of a focused effort to gain accession to
the Economic and Monetary Union, a target that has not been swayed
by the public's reaction tot he prolonged austerity measures.
Furthermore, it assesses that Greece's participation in the
EMU's third phase is certain, as the Simitis-led government
closely follows its economy strategy.
Lastly, the Morgan Stanley report opines that the government
will exhaust its four-year term, in spite of its lagging
popularity (according to recent polls).
[11] BODY OF GIRL WHOSE MOTHER WENT UNDERCOVER TO BE EXHUMED
The body of 20-year-old Dimitra Psarou -whose mother went
undercover as a prostitute in order to prove that her daughter was
murdered and did not die of a drug overdose- will be exhumed on
Tuesday, a Thessaloniki magistrate has ordered.
Miss Psarou was discovered dead last June in a derelict
building in the city. The coroner who performed the autopsy then
reported that the cause of death was a drug overdose. However, her
mother, Eleni Fotiadou, upon seeing evident marks of violence on
her daughter body and knowing that her daughter was not a drug
user, challenged the report and probed into the underworld,
befriending junkies and prostitutes for six months before amassing
enough information that led to the indictment of eight people on
charges of gang rape and murder.
Mrs. Fotiadou, who was aided by a detective, reportedly has
cassette tapes where prostitutes
describe the method of murder and name the people who raped and
killed her daughter.
Tuesday's autopsy is to be performed by three coroners.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] U.S. WILL CONTINUE RAIDS OVER IRAQ
In spite of the reactions reverberating throughout the world
after last night's surpirse attack on Baghad by the United States
and Britain, the US are to continue the air raids (code-named
Desert Fox) over Iraq. According to Iraqi news services, the
casualties from last night's raid are mounting.
U.S. President Bill Clinton said that the raids will continue
over the next two to three days, awaiting Iraqi President Saddam
Husein's reaction.
[13] US, BRITAIN STRIKE IRAQ, HUSSEIN URGES DEFIANCE
The United States and Britain conducted an air strike over
the Iraqi capital Baghdad during the early morning hours today,
just one day before the U.S. House of Representatives had been
expected to vote on President Bill Clinton's impeachment over the
Monica Lewinsky scandal.
During a televised address from the Oval office, President
Clinton stated "I have ordered a strong, sustained series of air
strikes against Iraq," adding that "their mission is to attack
Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its
military capacity to threaten its neighbors.''
Iraqi President Saddam Husein urged the Iraqi people to show
defiance. According to the official Iraqi news agency INA, he
stated: "Our great people and our brave armed forces...resist and
fight them. Fight the enemies of God, the Arab nation and
humanity. God willing, you will be the victors.''
Greece's Defense Ministry officials stated that they had no
prior knowledge of the attacks, adding that no Greek military
personnel are involved.
[14] OIL PRICES DROP AFTER THE ATTACK ON IRAQ
Amid expectations to the contrary, oil prices dropped after
the United States and Britain attacked Iraq early this morning,
after a brief increase, as traders on the New York Mercantile
Exchange (NYMEX) were confident that Iraq's 1.8 million barrels
per day (bpd) of exports would continue.
Before the attacks began, Iraq's ambassador to the United
Nations, Nizar Hamdoon, said that oil exports would have to stop
if military strikes were launched. ``Physically speaking,
practically speaking, if there is a military strike, there will be
no oil pumped,'' Hamdoon said.
However, the market apparently expected the air strikes to be
of short term and did not expect the loading of oil tankers to be
halted.
According to news reports, Taiwan's state owned Chinese
Petroleum Corp (CPC) said its crude tanker Isabella was waiting
outside the Iraqi Mina al-Bakr port for a scheduled December 20-21
loading.
[15] RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAQ HOLD UN'S BUTLER RESPONSIBLE FOR AIR
STRIKES
In an emergency session of the Uniterd Naitons Secxutity
Council, summoned by Moscow late last night, Russia, China and
Iraq called on the United States and Britain to halt the air
strikes over Baghdad.
Moreover, the three nations expressed personal criticism
against the UN's chief weapons inspector Richard Butler whose
report on Iraq's lack of compliance with UN's arms inspectors was
the basis for the attacks.
``I speak to you now as the rockets and bombs are falling
over the cities and villages of Iraq,'' Baghdad's U.N. ambassador
Nizar Hamdoon told the Security Council.
Mr. Hamdoon asked the SC to ``fulfill its responsibilities as
set forth in the U.N. Charter
and request the immediate unconditional cessation of what is
underway in Iraq.''
``The exaggerated uproar over the Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction is nothing but a big lie. The other lie is a claim
that Iraq poses a threat to its neighbors,'' he added.
Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov urged that ``an end be
immediately put to these acts of military force, that restraint
and prudence be demonstrated and no further escalation of the
conflict be allowed.''
``No one is entitled to act independently on behalf of the
United Nations and even less to assume the functions of a world
policeman,'' he said.
Although there were ``certain problems'' regarding
cooperation between Iraq and UNSCOM, the current crisis ``was
created artificially as a result of the irresponsible acts'' by
Mr. Butler, the Russian Ambassador said.
He said Butler's report gave a ``distorted picture of the
real state of affairs'' while he had evacuated UNSCOM staff from
Iraq without consulting the Security Council.
Chinese ambassador Qin Huasun said his country long advocated
the peaceful settlement of disputes.
``We call upon the United States and the United Kingdom to
stop forthwith all military actions against Iraq and to avoid any
other acts which may worsen the situation and to return to the
path of cooperation and dialogue,'' he said.'
Mr. Butler had ``played a dishonorable role in this crisis''
while UNSCOM's reports were ``one-sided and evasive of facts. It
is difficult for the UNSCOM leader to shirk his responsibility
over the current crisis,'' the Chinese Ambassador added.
[16] UN SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES REGRET OVER USE OF FORCE ON
IRAQ
The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that
the strikes on Iraq mark "a sad day for the United Nations and for
the world".
In a statement given to reporters prior to an emergency
Security Council meeting late last night, Mr. Annan said that "my
thoughts tonight are with the people of Iraq and with the 307
United Nations humanitarian workers who remain in the country and
with all others whose lives are in dange.,"
"It is also a very sad day for me personally. Throughout this
year, I have done everything in my power to ensure peaceful
compliance with Security Council resolutions and to avert the use
of force.
"But all this has not been an easy or painless process. It
has required patience, determination and the will to seek peace,
even when all signs pointed to war.
"However daunting the task, the United Nations had to try as
long as any hope of peace remained. I deeply regret that today
these efforts have proved insufficient.
"What has happened cannot be reversed nor can any of us
foresee the future.
"All we know is that tomorrow, as yesterday, there will be
still an acute need, in Iraq and in the wider region, for both
humanitarian relief and healing diplomacy.
"In both these tasks, the United Nations will be ready, as
ever, to play its part," Mr Annan said.
[17] RUSSIA, FRANCE, INDIA, AFGHANISTAN INDIGNANT OVER RAID ON
IRAQ
Russian President Boris Yeltsin has condemned the United
States' and Britain's decsion to launch air strikes over Bagghad
early this morning, stating that the move ``crudely violated'' the
United Nations charter and was ``fraught with the most dramatic
consequences'' for the Gulf region.
France also strongly condemned the decision to use force,
issuing a statement dissociating itself from the action about an
hour after the raids began.
``France deplores the escalation which led to the American
military strikes against Iraq and the grave human consequences
which they could have for the Iraqi people,'' the statement read.
In Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban issued a strong
condemnation of the raids.
``We have got children and ordinary people suffering and falling
victim to the attack, and it is not acceptable for us because Iraq
is an independent and Islamic country,'' senior Taliban spokesman
Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil said.
``The act is against all international principles and laws.
The attack may have a link to the impeachment of Clinton and the
U.S. and Britain should stop the attack.''
India said the air strikes undermined the authority of the
Security Council. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee stated the
attack "raises serious questions regarding the functioning of the
collective and consultative procedures of the U.N. Security
Council.''
[18] US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES POSTPONES IMPEACHMENT VOTE
The United States House of Representatives has decided to
postpone their vote on whether or President Bill Clinton's
impeachment, originally set for today, after last night's air raid
over Iraq.
The House could be recalled as early as tomorrow, although
the postponement has touched off fierce debate as many of Mr.
Clinton's opponents have argued that Congress continued its work
during the Civil War and elections were still held during World
War II.
In its vote, whenever it will be held, the House will
consider four articles of impeachment alleging that President
Clinton committed perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of
power in concealing his affair with Monica Lewinsky in civil and
criminal proceedings.
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